New York Public Library

Issac & Stern Architects and Picksell Studio are working with developer Horizon Group to transform a three-story Classical Revival style building in Chinatown, Manhattan. New renderings of the project offer a first look at the ongoing residential redevelopment located at 61 Rivington Street. The original structure was completed around 1903 and served as a downtown branch of The New York Public Library. The base of the building incorporates horizontally scored masonry that transitions into red brick at the second and third floors.

Permits have been filed for a 14-story affordable housing building at 4784 Broadway in Inwood, Manhattan. Located between Dyckman Street and Cumming Street, the interior lot is steps away from the Dyckman Street subway station, serviced by the A train. New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development is listed as the owner behind the applications for the site also known as 4790 Broadway.

A highly anticipated LPC hearing for the renovation and exterior alteration at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 476 Fifth Avenue will take place later today. Earlier this month, the Landmarks Committee of Community Board 5 met to discuss proposed changes to the library that would introduce new outdoor areas.

Large developments don’t often come to the blocks of Broadway as it snakes through Upper Manhattan, but today YIMBY has an update on 4790 Broadway, which we first covered back in January of 2017. Since then, the City has moved forward with development plans, selecting Fogarty Finger and Andrew Berman Architects to design the project, now revealed through official renderings.

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is partnering with the New York Public Library and the Robin Hood Foundation to explore redevelopment opportunities at 4790 Broadway, the site of the two-story Inwood Library, The Real Deal reported. A new building would retain the existing library and 100 percent of its residential units would be designated as affordable, although the scale of the project is unclear. The city will launch a request for proposals once workshops, where community members can give input, are held later this month. The proposal will have to be approved through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).

The first rendering has been revealed of the renovation project planned for the New York Public Library‘s Main Branch, located between West 40th and 42nd streets on Fifth Avenue. Netherlands-based firm Mecanoo and local architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle are designing the renovations, which will increase the amount of public space in the 646,680-square-foot structure by 35 percent. Specifically, back offices, the lower level, and the roof will be converted into public space. There will also be designated sections for specific age groups and professional interests. The library will close by the end of 2017 and reopen in 2020, Curbed NY reported.

The New York Public Library plans to build a new Roosevelt Island branch at the site of the existing building at 502 Main Street. Located in the East River between Queens and Manhattan island, Roosevelt Island is politically part of Manhattan. According to Curbed NY, the new library will measure 5,465 square feet and will feature a 670 square-foot community room, a children’s room and teen space, as well as many more computers. The old 2,200 square-foot facility at 524 Main Street is reportedly struggling to keep up with public demand. Smith-Miller+Hawkinson Architects is designing the new library, which is scheduled to open in late 2017 or early 2018.

The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (between West 135th and 136th Streets) in Harlem, is getting a $22 million renovation, according to Curbed. Not only will parts of the building’s exterior be replaced, many of the interior spaces will be expanded and reconfigured, allowing for improved public access and assembly. Westerman Construction Company, the Department of Design and Construction, and Marble Fairbanks Architects are leading the renovation. Construction is expected to be completed in 2017.

The New York Public Library Main Branch, located at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, in Midtown, has selected the Netherlands-based architecture firm Mecanoo to design the building’s $300 million renovation, according to the New York Times. Beyer Blinder Belle will serve as the architect of record, and the 645,680 square-foot-building will receive new interiors. More space will also be opened to the public. Last year, the library abandoned planned renovations that would have been led by Norman Foster.